1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a device for unloading floating cargo barges. The device employs a floating dock having platforms thereon and a trough therebetween which is submerged in a body of water. The trough supports a barge carrier assembly. One side of the trough has a ramp along which the barge carrier moves. The carrier comprises a series of rings connected together in axial alignment so as to form a cradle for the barge. The carrier with barge secured therein is raised out of the water and rolled upwardly along the ramp by cables pulled by power means such as hydraulic pullers or the like. At the top of the ramp, the carrier with the barge secured therein will have rotated to a point where the contents of the barge are discharged into hoppers contained within one of the platforms. Once unloaded, the carrier and barge are rolled downwardly along the ramp and into the water whereby the barge is refloated out of the carrier and trough. Suitable conveyors cooperating with the hoppers move the materials from the hoppers to shore storage or other transportation facilities.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
The prior art discloses barge and container dumping apparatus which employs wheels, ramps and tracks for raising a barge or container out of the water and dumping the contents thereof into suitable hoppers or containers. Unlike the present invention, the prior art shows permanently installed concrete and mechanical structures which are cumbersome and expensive to install. The disclosed device is a simple structure employing a floating dock having a barge carrier therein from which the barge dumping operation is facilitated. This barge unloading terminal is easily movable from one point to another as by towing or the like. By this construction, the present barge unloading terminal is simple in construction, efficient in operation and portable so as to be movable at various locations.
Patents relating to this field of invention include the following:
______________________________________ Patentee Pat. No. Issue Date ______________________________________ H. N. Hughes 710,194 Sept. 30, 1902 F. Bock 2,682,751 July 6, 1954 R. A. Miller 3,428,193 Feb. 18, 1969 J. Le Roy Fenchel 3,429,461 Feb. 25, 1969 C. A. Schuchmann 3,537,600 Nov. 3, 1970 Marcrander et al 3,687,307 Aug. 20, 1972 C. F. Rivers 3,884,376 May 20, 1975 Bartley 3,993,203 Nov. 23, 1976 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 710,194 to Hughes shows an apparatus for raising a coal barge and comprises a series of vertical standards anchored in a foundation at one end and having an upper curved portion. A carriage for supporting a barge is raised vertically between the standards. Upon negotiating the curved upper portion, the contents of the barge are dumped into railroad vehicles. Unlike the present floating structure, this device is permanently installed and is operationally and structurally different from this invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,429,461; 3,537,600 and 3,687,307 to Fenchel, Schuchmann and Marcrander, respectively, disclose barge unloading devices which employ permanently installed ramp structures having rails or tracks for carrying a carriage out of the water. These devices also employ complicated mechanical structures to rotate the carriage and barge so as to dump the contents of the barge into hoppers or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,193 to Miller shows a boat unloading assembly which is also a permanently installed structure employing a concrete base, ramp and side walls. The base or floor has transverse slots in which ride a boat supporting structure. The boat supporting comprises a series of rings within which there is a boat supporting wheel structures called a cradle. The rings and boat cradle with boat therein are rolled upwardly along the concrete ramp in the terminal recesses. A tower supports a plurality of motors from which cables extend to the rings and cradle structure. The rings carrying the boat cradle are rolled up the ramp by one set of cables and once at the top of the ramp a second set of cables are operated to turn the boat carrying cradle so as to dump the contents thereof into a trench structure. Unlike the floating dock hereof, this device is permanently installed, employs concrete structures and towers to operate the assembly. Further, the device employs a boat cradle which is adapted to rotate within the ring structure by additional cables.